Cognitive and behavioral performance in children with epilepsy with myoclonic-atonic seizures.

Epilepsy with myoclonic-atonic seizures (EMAS), or Doose syndrome, is characterized by the presence of atonic-myoclonic seizures that begin in childhood between 7 months and 6 years of age, which may present with cognitive and behavioral changes.

Objective: The aim of this present study was to evaluate adaptive behavior, performance on intelligence and neuropsychological tests, and verify the association of autism spectrum disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in patients diagnosed with EMAS compared with a control group of healthy children.

Methods: We included nine patients with EMAS and nine healthy controls, assessed by scales of adaptive behavior development, autism spectrum disorder, attention deficit and hyperactivity, and intelligence and neuropsychological tests.

Results: The results revealed that in the intelligence and neuropsychological tests, there was a significant difference between the groups (p>0.05), with worse performance for the EMAS group. In the latter group, eight patients showed some symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and none showed symptoms of autism spectrum disorder or changes in adaptive behavior.

Conclusion: These findings show the relevance of investigating cognitive and behavioral profiles in this population in order to address specific impairments in their everyday life activities.